Judges 6:18

18 Please ¹do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you. ” And he said, “I will stay till you return. ”

Judges 6:18 Meaning and Commentary

Ver. 18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee
Intending to go to his own, or his father's house, to fetch some food to entertain him with, and therefore entreats he would not quit the place where he was until he returned:

and bring forth my present, and set it before thee;
to treat him with, as a stranger and a messenger of God; and perhaps he thought, by this means, the better to discover who he was, whether an angel or a man: the word for the "present" is "minchah", often used for a meat offering, therefore some have thought of a sacrifice; but it appears by what follows that it was not of the nature of a sacrifice; and, besides, Gideon was no priest, nor was this a place for sacrifice, nor was there here any altar; and, besides, as Gideon did not yet know that it was the Lord himself, he could never think of offering a sacrifice to him:

and he said, I will tarry until thou come again;
which was a wonderful instance of divine condescension, it being some time he waited ere Gideon could prepare what he brought, as follows.

Judges 6:18 In-Context

16 And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man. ”

17 And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.

18 Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you. ” And he said, “I will stay till you return. ”

19 So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them.

20 And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them. ” And he did so.

Cross References

• 1. 6:18 ch. 13:15; Gen. 18:3-5